Indicted Parkland school administrator gets $740K in severance pay to step down
The school district superintendent who was charged with perjury during a grand jury investigation of the deadly 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., will receive a $740,000 severance package.
Under the agreement, Broward County Superintendent Robert Runcie will leave his position before the next school year begins, and potentially sooner if a new superintendent is hired by the school board.
Two members of the school board who voted against the severance package had family members killed in the Feb. 14, 2018 massacre.
Runcie was indicted on a felony perjury charge in April 2021 for allegedly lying to a grand jury investigating the shooting. He’s pleaded not guilty. According to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Runcie had repeatedly offered to resign to avoid facing charges.
The agreement includes Runcie receiving $145,000 in severance, $112,000 in salary, $230,000 for unused vacation and sick days, $187,000 in payments to his pension plan and $25,000 to pay his lawyer for negotiating his departure.
The board also agreed to pay for Runcie’s criminal defense lawyers in the perjury case, but that amount was not included in the severance and remains to be negotiated.
With Wire News Services
